Apparatus for improving the accuracy of a firearm



Jan. 30, 1968 R. SHOCKEY 3,

APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING THE ACGURACY OF A FIREARM Filed June 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l FLEZ FiEa-E Fi -4: FLEE g 4% //3 [via 8 Fi -r7 TLEE INVENTOR.

fCHA/FD game/(5r BY y M ATTOP/VE-Y Jan. 30, 1968 R. L. SHOCKEY 3,

APPARATUS FOR IMPR OVING THE ACCURACY OF A FIREARM Fi led J une 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet z FIG. 9

INVENTOR. F/G. I CHARO L. SHOCKE) ATTORNEY United States EMU 3,365,829 APPARATUS FOR IMPRQVING THE ACCURACY OF A FEREARM Richard L. Shockey, 1614 S. Choctaw, El Reno, Okla. 73036 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 435,271, Feb. 25, 1965. This application June 6, 1966, Ser. No. 562,044

6 Claims. (Cl. 421) ABSTRACT (PF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to an article of manufacture having primary utility for improving the balance and accuracy of a firearm. In general the structure shown herein includes an apertured body member through which the barrel of a firearm projects. Below the barrel on the body member is formed an abutment member which projects into the forward end of the firearm frame. An aperture is formed into the inward face of the abutment member to receive a spring follower or in a preferred embodiment to receive a connecting means. Suitable means, which includes pins in one embodiment and a threaded aperture in another embodiment, are provided for retaining the article of manufacture on a firearm.

This is a continuation-in-part of Unted States application Ser. No. 435,271, filed Feb. 25, 1965, entitled, Accurizing Attachment, by Richard L. Shockey.

The present invention relates to firearms, and more particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus for improving the accuracy of a firearm.

One of the common types of sidearms currently used by law enforcement agencies, the military and target shooters is the semi-automatic; and one of the more common types of semi-automatic, or autoloading, weapons currently in use is the Colt semi-automatic pistol, such as the military pistols designated as the model 1911 and 1911A1, in caliber .45. In general, pistols of this type have been found to be quite adequate for the use for which they are intended; however, due to the reasonable necessity for relatively loose tolerances due to the mass production of such weapons, the accuracy of generally available weapons of this type has not always proved to be satisfactory to the demanding shooter.

A number of techniques have been employed, with varying degrees of success, to improve the accuracy of the Colt type semi-automatic pistol. For instance it is common to flex the bearing portions of the slide inwardly to create a tighter engagement with the mating portions of the frame. In addition, it is common to replace the commercial barrel bushing with one having a tighter fit to the barrel. Aside from techniques such as these, which entail alteration of existing weapon components, a number of other approaches have been made which require the addition of parts to the pistol. In one such procedure an extended front sight is included to give a longer sighting radius, while another such procedure calls for the placing of a positionally adjustable weight on the frame forward of the center of gravity of the weapon. Similarly, it has been found advantageous to place a weight forward of the slide to alter the balance of the production model of the pistol, either in the form of a slide extension, or in the form of a barrel extension. This latter procedure has the primary advantage of increasing the barrel length and thereby increasing the accuracy and powder burning efficiency of the weapon; however, it suffers from the disadvantage that it does not sufiiciently alter the balance of the weapon, due to the relatively light weight of the barrel itself. In general it may be said that each of the techniques employed heretofore has had certain disadvantages which preclude the universal application of such techniques under all circumstances. Until the present invention, an accurizing attachment capable of increasing the sight radius of the weapon while optimizing its balance and suitably accommodating a barrel of extended length has remained an elusive desideratum.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an article of manufacture for the improvement of the accuracy of a firearm.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting an extended barrel of an automatic pistol in a manner to increase the accuracy thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus capable of optimizing the balance of an automatic pistol while supporting an extended barrel thereof.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of supporting an extended barrel of an automatic pistol while allowing an increase in the sighting radius thereof.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for supporting an extended barrel of a semiautomatic pistol in a manner to optimize the accuracy and balance thereof while increasing the sighting radius of the pistol.

Still another object of the present invention is to prbvide an accurizing attachment for a firearm which is relatively simple to manufacture in either modular or one-piece construction.

These and other objects of this: invention will become apparent from the following description and associated drawings wherein two embodiments of the present invention are detailed.

Apparatus capable of achieving the above objects may include a body member having a bore formed therein for receiving, either directly or indirectly, a pistol barrel. On the rearward portion of the body member may be provided a tubular extension, the outer dimensions of which are smaller than the outer dimensions of said body member whereby a shoulder is formed therebetween. Below the body member maybe provided an abutment against which the recoil spring of the pistol acts; and means are provided for holding the apparatus in position on the pistol.

Apparatus typical of the present invention is shown in the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly in cross section, showing an accurizing attachment in place on a semi-automatic pistol, and further showing the relationship of the apparatus to various portions of the pistol.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational. view of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3, showing the relationship of a gunsight to a tubular portion of the attachment.

FIGURE 6 is an exploded view of an alternative embodiment of an accurizing attachment which shows the general configuration of the components thereof and their relationship to each other. The scale used in FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 is somewhat reduced from that utilized in FIG- URES 2, 3, 4 and 5.

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional view of the components of FIGURE 6 in assembled form, showing the relation ship between a body portion of the attachment and a tubular member carried thereby.

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIGURE 7, showing the relationship of a relief aperture formed in a portion of the attachment and 2.

lug carried by said tubular member.

FIGURE 9 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a pistol having atfixed thereon an alternate of the present invention.

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged, exploded view of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a vertical cross section of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 10 in its assembled form illustrating the relationship between the accurizing attachment and the slide of a firearm, and

FIGURE 12 is a cross sectional view taken along line 1212 of FIGURE 11 showing the relationships between the assembled components of the accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 10.

Turning now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURE 1, there is shown an autoloading pistol 10 of the type with which the present invention is designed for use. Pistol 10 is provided with a slide 11 of the usual configuration and a recoil spring 12, located beneath slide 11. Secured to the forward end of pistol 10 is an accurizing attachment, indicated generally by the numeral 13, which forms the basis for the present invention.

The accurizing attachment shown in FIGURE 1, and in more detail in FIGURES 2, 3, 4 and 5, may be formed in one piece or from components and may include a body member 14 having a bore 16 therein to receive the extended portion of a gun barrel 17 (FIGURE 1). In order to centralize and secure the gun barrel 17 within the ac curizing attachment, a portion 18 of bore 16 near the forward end thereof is reduced in cross section to snugly engage barrel 17. A tubular extension 19 is provided at the rearward portion of body member 14, and the outer dimensions of extension 19 are sufficiently smaller than those of body member 14 to form a shoulder 21 at the plane of intersection between these two portions of the structure. In addition, the outer dimensions of extension 19 are machined to snugly engage the interior portion of slide 11 without looseness in order to aid in the proper functioning of the accurizing attachment.

Abutment means are provided to engage an open-ended cylindrical spring follower 23 carried by recoil spring 12. In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 through 5 such abutment means includes a thickened Web 24 carried by the lower portion of body member 14 which terminates in the same planes in which body member 14 terminates. Immediately behind thickened web 24 and also forming a portion of said abutment means is a cylindrical member 26 having a recess 27 formed therein to clear a recoil spring guide (not shown) at the rearward position of the slide. As shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, a guide web 28 depends from the lower portion of extension 19 immediately adjacent to cylindrical member 26. An arcuate groove 29, having substantially the same radius of curvature as cylindrical member 26, is formed on the underside of said guide web and functions to guide spring follower 23.

In addition, means are provided for securing accurizing attachment to slide 11. In the embodiment shown in the first five figures, such means include a pair of apertures 31, one of which is formed in cylindrical member 26, and the other one of which is formed in guide web 28. These apertures register with corresponding apertures (not shown) formed in slide 11 and are held in alignment therewith by a pin 32 which is frictionally held in each of the apertures.

A gunsight 33 is mounted in a dovetail groove 34 formed on the upper portion of body member 14. Gunsight 33 is of a length greater than body portion 14 and extends from the rearward portion thereof and projects over tubular extension 19. As suggested in FIGURE 1, the extended portion of gunsight 33 slides into a dovetail groove 36 formed in the forward portion of slide 11, to give additional rigidity to the mounting of accurizing attachment 13 on slide 11.

In order to secure accurizing attachment 13 on slide- 11, it is simply necessary to insert barrel 17 into bore 16 and move the attachment toward slide 11 until the front portion of the slide abuts shoulder 21 and apertures 31 are aligned with corresponding apertures formed in the front lower portion of the slide. Pins 32 are then inserted into apertures 31 and the attachment is thereby locked into place. It will be noted that rigidity will be given to the structure thus obtained not only by the action of pins 31 but also by the tight frictional engagement of extension 19 with the inner surface of slide 11 and also by the bridging action of gunsight 33 between dovetail grooves 34 in attachment 13 and 36 in slide 11.

In FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 there is shown an alternative embodiment of accurizing attachment 13 which retains the advantages of the structure discussed above while having the additional advantage of being relatively sim= ple to manufacture and assemble. In FIGURES 6 and 7 it may be seen that there is provided a body portion 114 having a bore 116 formed therein, which is oversize with respect to a gun barrel, such as gun barrel 17 shown in FIGURE 1. A tube 37 is seated within bore 116 and held therein by any suitable means such as silver solder, forced fit, etc. The bore 38 of tube 37 is reduced in cross sec tional area as indicated at 118 to form a tight sliding fit with a gun barrel as in the manner previously described for the reduced portion 18 of bore 16 formed in body member 14. Tube 37 is of sufficient length to project outwardly from the rearward portion of body member 114 as indicated in FIGURE 7, and the exterior surface of this projecting portion of tube 37 is machined to form a tight fit with the interior of the forward portion of slide 11 to aid in the rigid securing of the attachment to pistol 10. In addition to such frictional attachment, additional means are provided to positively secure the attachment to the pistol. Such attaching means comprise a lug 39 which is secured to tube 37 at a position on the lower half of the left side of the tube as viewed from the front (FIG URE 8). Lug 39 is so located that when shoulder 121, formed between body member 114 and the extension of tube 37, abuts the front portion of slide 11 in a normal position, lug 39 projects into and holds against an inner groove (not shown) formed on the inside surface of slide 11 to secure accurizing attachment 13 to the slide.

Depending from the lower portion of body member 114 is an abutment member 41 which engages a thick ened end portion 42 of a spring follower 123 shown in FIGURE 6. The point of engagement between abutment member 41 and follower 123 comprises a recess 43 into which thickened portion 42 of the follower projects when the attachment is mounted on pistol 10. By this means any tendency of accurizing attachment 113 to rotate relative to slide 11 is precluded. A relief aperture 44 is formed between the bottom of recess 43 and the forward surface of abutment member 41. The utilization of this relief aperture will be explained later.

On the upper portion of body member 114 is formed a dovetail groove 134 which extends over the total length of the upper surface of the body member. Located within groove 134 is a gunsight 133 which projects outwardly and rearwardly from body member 114 above the extension of tube 37. Gunsight 133 is held within the groove by a set screw 46 which mounts into a threaded aperture 47 formed in gunsight 133. As in the case of gunsight 33, gunsight 133 is formed into a dovetail in the portion thereof which extends outwardly above the extension of tube 37.

In mounting accurizing attachment .113 on pistol 10, the attachment is rotated approximately 20 degrees from its normal position in a counter clockwise direction as viewed from the front. In this position barrel 17 is passed through aperture 38, and the extending portion of tube 37 is pressed into the forward portion of slide 11 until the front of the slide comes to rest against shoulder 121. Attachment 113 is then rotated clockwise to a vertical position whereupon lug 39 moves into a groove formed in the inner surface of slide 11 and follower 123 moves, under the action of recoil spring 12, into recess 43. Thereafter, gunsight 133 is slid into the forward portion of dovetail groove 134 and moved until the extended portion of the sight seats in dovetail groove 36 formed in the upper forward portion of slide 11. Setscrew 46 is then moved into place to lock gunsight 133 in this position. Under these conditions accurizing attachment 113 is held on slide 11 by the bridging action of gunsight 113, the locking action of lug 39, and the locking action of follower 123 in recess 43. In addition, there is africtional locking between the outer surface of the extension of tube 37 and the inner surface of slide 11.

In order to remove attachment 113 from slide 11, gunsight 133 is first removed, after which a pin is inserted into recess 44 and seated upon the thickened portion 42 of spring follower 123. Follower .123 is thus moved until the end of portion 42 clears recess 43 whereupon attachment 113 is rotated approximately degrees counter clockwise as viewed from the front. The attachment is then moved away from slide 11 until the rearward portion of tube 37 clears the slide.

A third embodiment of the present invention is depicted in FIGURES 9 through 12. This embodiment, which may be made either in modular or unitary construction, is similar in structure to the first alternative embodiment depicted in FIGURES 6 through 8 but differs therefrom in the means by which the accurizing attachment indicated in FIGURE 9 generally by the numeral 213 is held upon a firearm 210. Turning to FIGURE 9, it may be seen that a firearm 210 includes an extended barrel 217 and a recoil spring 212 of standard design. Accurizing attachment 213 carries on the top thereof a gunsight 233 and includes generally a body member 214, an abutment member 241 and an extension 219, which correspond generally to members 14, 41 and 37, respectively, as depicted in FIGURE 8. Since the diameter of extension 219 is less than that of body member 214, a shoulder 221 is formed in the plane of juncture of these two elements.

Bore 216 of body member 214 is restricted at the outer portion thereof as indicated by numeral 218 to furnish a tight fit between the body member and gun barrel 217 which slides therein. Abutment 241 has formed therein a recess 243 on the righthand side as viewed in FIGURE 11 which recess communicates with an aperture 48 which is countersunk as indicated by numeral 49.

Received within recess 243 is a connecting member, indicated generally by the numeral 51, which corresponds roughly to spring follower 123 depicted in FIGURES 6 and 7. The forward portion of connecting member 51 is thickened as at 52 and has formed therein a threaded aperture 53 which is aligned with aperture 48 formed in abutment member 241. Connecting member 51 is substantially cylindrical in shape and thus forms a recess 54 in the axial portion thereof to receive recoil spring 212.

Anchor means, such as an outwardly, radially extending flange 56, is provided on the righthand portion of connecting member 51 as viewed in FIGURE 11 for holding accurizing attachment 213 on slide 211 when a threaded member 56 is located as shown in FIGURE 11 and tightened to draw connecting member 51 toward the left as shown in FIGURE 11. Under such circumstances, flange 56 abuts a portion of slide 211 and thereby locks the accurizing attachment onto the slide. A lock washer 57 may be provided in combination with threaded member 56 if desired.

In attaching accurizing attachment 213 to firearm 210, slide 211 is first removed from the firearm and subsequently connecting member 51 is slid from the right as viewed in FIGURE 11 until flange 56 abuts the righthand face of a depending portion 58 of the slide. Accurizing attachment 213 is then located to the left of slide 211-so that gun barrel 217 enters bore 216 in the accurizing attachment. The attachment is then slid to the right whereupon tubular extension 219 enters slide 211 and the body member 214 abuts the lefthand face of the slide. Thereupon threaded member 56 is passed through aperture 48 until it engages the threads carried in aperture 53. Member 56 is then rotated to draw connecting member 51 to the left to firmly engage flange 56 on the right hand portion of slide extension 58 and thereby lock accurizing attachment against relative movement with respect to slide 211.

While but three forms of the invention have been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of manufacture comprising:

(a) a body member having an aperture formed therein;

(b) an extension carried by said body member, the outer diameter of said extension being smaller than that of said body member, whereby a shoulder is formed between said extension and said body member, the extension being further characterized by an aperture formed therein in alignment with the aperture formed in the body member;

(c) an abutment member carried by said body member, said abutment member having for-med therein a recess opening in a plane substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of said aperture formed in the body member and further having an aperture passing through the bottom of said recess;

(d) a connecting member adapted to be received within said recess in the abutment;

(e) anchor means carried by an end of said connecting member; and

(f) means, passing through said aperture which passes through the bottom of the abutment member and secured in the end of the connecting member opposite said anchor means, for holding said connecting member within said recess in the abutment member.

2. The article defined in claim 1 wherein said anchor means comprises a flange.

3. The article defined in claim 2 wherein said connecting means comprises an elongated cylindrical member having a recess formed in the end thereof which carries the flange and wherein a threaded aperture is formed through the wall of said connecting means at the end thereof opposite said flange.

4. The article defined in claim 3 wherein said means for holding comprises a headed screw which cooperates with the threaded aperture formed in the cylindrical member.

5. An article of manufacture comprising:

(a) a body member having an axial bore formed therein;

(b) a tubular extension aligned with said body member, the outer dimension of said tubular extension being less than that of said body member, whereby a shoulder is formed between said body member and said extension;

(c) an abutment member positioned below said body member, said abutment member comprising:

a cylindrical member which terminates at one end in substantially the same plane as said shoulder, extends parallel to said extension, and terminates at the outer end thereof beneath said extension, said abutment member further characterized by an aperture therein normal to the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axes of said tubular extension and cylindrical members; and,

(d) a pin cooperating with said aperture formed in said abutment member for securing said article of manufacture to a firearm.

6. An article of manufacture comprising:

7 8 (a) a body member having an axial bore formed lel with the axis of the bore formed in said body;

therein; and (b) a tubular extension aligned with said body mem- (d) means for securing said article of manufacture to bet, the outer dimension of said extension being less a firearm. than that of said body member, whereby a shoulder 5 is formed between said body member and said ex- References Cited tension; and UNITED STATES PATENTS (c) an abutment member positioned below said body member, said abutment member comprising a paral- 2627686 2/1953 shockay 42 1 lel extension of said body member, said parallel ex- 10 BENJAMIN A BORCHELT Primary Examiner tension having'formed therein a recess opening into substantially the same plane which includes said SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examinershoulder, and further having formed therein a relief 5 C BENTLEY Assistant Examiner aperture communicating with said recess in paral- 

